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King's controversial comments on immigration

The conservative firebrand from Iowa — who recently called immigrant children drug mules — is seizing a critical moment in the immigration debate and taking his views on the road to rallies like the one here in the backyard of Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who is helping to shape immigration policy in the House.

King hopes to pressure fellow Republicans into staring down any move to give undocumented immigrants legal status.

He began his nearly half-hour speech here arguing against immigration reform, claiming societies tend to become more violent as one moves farther south in Latin America.

“Now think what that is,” King said to the 60 or so attendees at the rally. “If you bring people from a violent civilization into a less-violent civilization, you’re going to have more violence right? It’s like pouring hot water into cold water, does it raise the temperature or not?”

Republican leaders — eager not to further alienate Hispanic voters — argue they’ve done all they can to shut up King.

“What he said does not reflect the values of the American people or the Republican Party,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) after one of King’s recent statements.

But Republican leaders haven’t stepped up with a louder voice on the issue, leaving a vacuum King has been happy to fill. During the long recess weeks — when bills often either pick up momentum or stall — King is emerging as the Republican Party’s de facto spokesman on immigration reform — and he’s using his megaphone to crush it.

King told POLITICO that he wasn’t directing a specific message toward his leadership, despite entering Cantor’s home turf. He just believes that he is a man standing on principle while many of his fellow Republicans “have had a spell cast over them” following the 2012 elections, in which the GOP took a drubbing among the Latino electorate.

“A year ago, almost everybody in my conference agreed with me,” King said in an interview. “There’s been no spell cast over me.”

Republican leaders are reluctant to talk about King’s broader role in the immigration reform fight. Cantor’s office declined to comment specifically on the rally in his neighborhood Monday, instead pointing to the No. 2 House Republican’s recent Fox News interview in which he said the House’s approach to the issue would be a “lot more deliberative and smart” than the Senate’s.

The groups participating in Monday’s rally plan to hit several other states in the coming weeks to send a similar message. Though details are not yet finalized, the so-called Stop Amnesty Tour will also wind through Harrisburg, Pa.; Dallas; Toledo, Ohio; and South Carolina during the August recess. King hopes to attend those rallies, too. Other groups involved in the effort include Tea Party Patriots and Eagle Forum.

“Don’t go into the trap. If you do go into the trap, what you’re going to do is to turn your back to millions of Americans,” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that favors reduced immigration and one of the leaders of Monday’s rally. “Focus on putting these people back to work, not making them compete with more foreign workers.”

Meanwhile, immigration reform doesn’t appear to be a top priority for House Republican leaders, who spent the final days and weeks before the recess voting on more symbolic bills, such as repealing the health care law and targeting the Internal Revenue Service.

A pre-recess document from the House Republican Conference meant to help the rank and file craft their message during the August break focuses on a slew of topics, but not immigration. According to a copy of the document obtained by The Washington Post, House Republicans instead steer their attention toward health care, government oversight, the economy and energy issues.

House Republican leaders have spoken about immigration only when asked during the August recess. For example, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California, the third-ranking House Republican and a major target of pro-reform groups, spoke favorably of legalization — though not citizenship — in an appearance in Newport Beach, Calif., according to The Daily Pilot.